How To Poach an Egg with A Silicone Poacher Perfectly

how to poach an egg - Serve poached eggs over toast at breakfast or atop a salad or bowl of soup for an easy dinner.

People often use the traditional water bath poaching method – swirling the water, dropping the egg in and crossing their fingers for a smooth poached egg.

Poaching an egg is not that difficult, especially if you think a little bit about what’s going on inside your pot.

When proteins are subjected to heat, they denature, that is, the chains unfold and lose their structure.

This often causes the proteins to lose solubility. In the case of ovalbumin, the main protein component of egg whites, this causes the egg white to solidify and look white and cooked.

The key to perfect poached eggs is to have this happen as fast as possible when cooking the egg, before the egg white has a chance dissipate into the water in the pot.

How to Poach Eggs Perfectly

Ingredients

2 quarts water in a soup pot
2 teaspoons white wine or rice vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
fresh eggs

Instructions

Bring the pot of water to a boil. Use a slotted spoon, pasta drainer, or steaming basket to lower the number of eggs you wish to poach into the water in their shells.
After 10 seconds, lift the eggs back out of the water and drain them.
Crack each egg into its own small dish or bowl. Add the vinegar and water to the pot of boiling water, drop the heat under it to low, and when it has steam rising from the top but is not boiling, put a spoon in and stir it as vigorously as you can without spilling water over the edges in a circular motion until you've formed a vortex of water.
Quickly lower one of the bowls close to the surface of the water and pour the egg into the vortex. Repeat this with up to two eggs. The water should still be spinning somewhat as the last egg is added.
Set the timer for 3 minutes for set whites and very runny yolks, 3 1/2 minutes for set whites and thickened yolks, and 4 minutes for set whites and almost set yolks.
Use a slotted spoon to lift the finished eggs to a plate to await being served.
Serve on toast, salad, polenta, or Eggs Benedict.

How Long to Poach an Egg

Poaching eggs is a process of using water instead of direct heat to cook eggs out of their shell.

Taking the time to make poached eggs is a healthier alternative to fried eggs since you don’t need to grease the pan.

The resulting eggs are soft and creamy with a flowing yolk. The whites are whiter and the yellow is yellower in a properly poached egg.

The time needed to actually poach an egg is 3 minutes. This does not include the time it takes to boil the water.

The clock starts when the egg is submerged into the water.

We’ve come across many different runny yolk preferences when it comes to poached eggs, so you should experiment with poaching times to see what you like best.

However, here’s a handy guide that can help get you started:

Medium Eggs – between 3:00-3:30 minutes
Large Eggs – between 3:15-3:45 minutes
XL Eggs – between 3:30-4:00 minutes
Jumbo Eggs – between 4:00-4:40 minutes

How to Make Poached Eggs in Silicone Egg Cups

The silicon egg poachers make easy work of this elegant and versatile option for cooking eggs.

We chose silicone as the material because of its flexibility and high-heat resistance, the poacher is sitting in boiling water, but we can safely remove it from the water by grabbing the silicone tab with tongs.

Another plus: eggs can be pretty sticky and a pain to clean off spatulas or pans, but this guy can go in the dishwasher.

how to poach an egg with a silicone poacher image

illustration: poached eggs in boiling water with silicone cups

Things to prepare:

a pot with lid – that is deep enough to hold the cups with the lid on
silicone egg cups
nonstick cooking spray (I use a Misto oil sprayer filled with Canola oil)
eggs
salt and pepper to taste

How to do:

Fill the pot with about 1 inch of water and bring it to a boil.
Spray nonstick cooking spray on the poached egg cups.
Crack one egg in each cup.
Set the egg filled cup into the pot of boiling water and cover with lid.
Cook until desired doneness, about 10 minutes for a hard cooked yolk.
Use a table knife or plastic knife (something not too sharp) to remove the egg from the cup. Often times they just slide out without a knife.

That’s it! And clean up is very easy. The cups are dishwasher safe, but I just wash them by hand.